


Compatibility

by AkuChibi



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Boys In Love, Compatibility, Hope, M/M, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-05
Updated: 2017-04-05
Packaged: 2018-10-15 03:13:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10549114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AkuChibi/pseuds/AkuChibi
Summary: Scott Ryder was a Pathfinder, a leader, a beacon of hope for the Initiative. A good man.Reyes Vidal was a smuggler, a criminal, the secret leader of a gang. A bad man.They aren't compatible.But compatibility never mattered to Reyes.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> I just want to go ahead and say: I started writing this after I'd just met Reyes in the game, even though I knew what happened with him. I just recently (this morning) actually got this far in the actual gameplay, and I had the majority of this written before that. So, the dialogue doesn't completely match, sorry. I wrote this because I said I wanted to write something for Mass Effect and my friend likes Reyes so she told me to do something between him and male Ryder, so - here we are! Hope it sounds okay. It's my first Andromeda story.

Scott Ryder noticed a lot of things he kept quiet about. He knew how to keep quiet; his mouth wasn’t moving all the time, like some people thought. He did have little to no filter but that came from nerves more than anything; it was his go-to response in a tense situation, and nothing was more tense than being a new, inexperienced Pathfinder with the sole responsibility of providing habitable worlds – _homes_ – to thousands upon thousands of people, of varying different races. But no pressure.

**_There’s pressure, Pathfinder._ **

Oh, right. That little voice in his head wouldn’t let him forget about any of it.

_Thanks, SAM. I feel so much better now._

**_I am pleased to help._ **

_…Keep working on your sarcasm algorithms, SAM._

When he was nervous, he rambled, he joked, he laughed and poked fun at himself and anyone who would let him – he did whatever he could to ease the situation. Which was why he was beyond stressed these days, having no way to ease this current situation. He was the human Pathfinder now; there was an AI in his head listening to his thoughts, probably. SAM at least tried to be discreet and give him privacy, but really – there was no forgetting his mind was not simply his own anymore.

Oh, and there’s the little matter of his dead father, and his sister who was still in a coma.

_Yeah. No pressure._

The point was – he talked a lot. He constantly had a joke or something to say. But that didn’t mean he didn’t notice things, even if he never said anything about it.

He noticed how Liam stuck close to him in combat, untrusting of PeeBee, before the asari even commented on it. He noticed that Cora’s search for the asari ark was growing desperate. He noticed that PeeBee was getting more tense every day, acting like she’d had entirely too much coffee, and that was completely Scott’s job. Coffee was life. Sleep? What foreign concept is this? Who needs it? Certainly not him, not when there was so much to do…

_I am so tired._

The point. He had a point in all of this, but the lack of sleep combined with his nerves just kept throwing him off track.

The point was this: he noticed there was something up with Reyes, something he didn’t particularly like. It gnawed at him for a long time, before he finally admitted it to himself.

So when it was revealed Reyes was the Charlatan… he wasn’t all that surprised. Disappointed, sure, but not exactly surprised. He knew the man was hiding something, and every time someone mentioned the Charlatan, he’d say it couldn’t be their handy work because they had more style, or something like that. There were signs, and Ryder could pay attention.

He just thought maybe Reyes knew the Charlatan and was protecting them; he didn’t think he was actually the Charlatan himself, but honestly, he wasn’t surprised.

Disappointed – _why didn’t you trust me_ – but not surprised.

He thought they had a spark, a connection between them, but in the end Reyes was using him to gain control of Kadara Port. Alright. No big deal.

_Big fucking deal._

“I liked the way you looked at me… I was afraid that would change,” Reyes said by way of explanation, and yeah, good words, but they were just words. Time and time again Reyes made promises and failed to deliver, ditched him at parties to snoop around – even if it was for some good alcohol – and he just… _Ugh!_ Scott was tired of this.

The thing was, Scott Ryder was not the kind of guy who slept around easily, or caught feelings easily. He tended to sidestep feelings altogether in lieu of his job, but occasionally he hooked up with someone compatible with him, and it wasn’t meaningless.

He’d thought he and Reyes were compatible; he thought it wasn’t meaningless. But maybe that was just on his end; Reyes would always have ulterior motives and other plans. The hints were there from the start. He was a smuggler living on a pirate world surrounded by enemies; of course his morals and motives were screwed. And Scott had known that right from the beginning, and yet he let himself believe, and get attached, and _all the things he shouldn’t have because he knew better_.

_You’re not the man I thought you were._

Scott smiled. “Hey, no worries,” he said, sidestepping Sloane Kelly’s body. Reyes challenged her to a duel, one against one, and then cheated to get her out of the picture. Scott wasn’t sure why that bothered him; Reyes was a smuggler, a criminal, why would he ever play by the rules? “At least you got what you wanted.”

Reyes would have that fancy throne all to himself; he would be king of Kadara Port. Scott could challenge this, take it back for the Nexus, but in reality – he didn’t want to, and had little desire to do so. Kadara was a harsh world, and while he’d worked hard to increase the viability of this acidic planet, that didn’t mean the Nexus would inhabit this planet. There was too much history between the exiles and the Nexus; there was little hope of them coexisting peacefully, the Nexus with their rules and the exiles with their chaos. And he couldn’t just allow all the exiles back into the Nexus – even he didn’t have that kind of power.

“Yes,” Reyes said, hesitating only briefly, “I suppose I did get what I wanted. But I find myself wanting more.”

The smile on Scott’s face felt brittle. He and Reyes had been flirting – _a lot_. They even went on a date, if it could be called that, and Reyes ditched him the first chance he got to go snooping through Sloane’s stuff. Once upon a time, he thought there might be hope for them – but now he knew better.

Compatibility mattered, and they just weren’t compatible. They had completely different morals and jobs and – it would never work. The sex might be great, fantastic, if they were to have it, but that meant little because he _didn’t do meaningless flings_.

_Except with PeeBee. But that’s different. That’s stress relief, not a fling. It’s mutually beneficial. She’s my friend. I trust her. I don’t think I can trust you. Not anymore._

“You are upset with me,” Reyes said, frowning.

 _No shit_.

“It’s fine,” Scott said, waving him off. “You should probably alert the port that Sloane’s gone and you’re the man in charge now. And bring a guard or something; not everyone will be happy with you.”

“I suppose I can’t get you to be my bodyguard, huh?” Was it just him, or was there a semi-hopeful tone to Reyes’ voice?

“I don’t think that’s wise,” Scott said semi-apologetically. “Besides, I have a ship to get back to.”

He’d spent enough time on Kadara Port. He needed to get back to work. He needed to continue hunting the Archon, for everyone’s sake.

Reyes sighed, quiet and breathy. “Then I suppose this is goodbye.”

“Looks that way.”

Reyes looked at him long and hard, before he finally nodded. Scott forced himself to turn away before he caved at those brown eyes, because _fuck_ , turning around shouldn’t have hurt so much… but he turned, and he managed to walk away without looking back.

He wanted to look back. _Fuck_ did he want to look back.

He didn’t.

 

“You seem upset,” PeeBee said, leaning against the doorframe into the little kitchen area aboard the Tempest. Scott startled, nearly dropping the cheese for his sandwich, and he shot her a quick glare as he saved it.

“Don’t sneak up on me.”

“It’s literally impossible to _sneak up on you_ with that AI in your head,” PeeBee scoffed. “Obviously SAM knows I’m not a threat.”

**_She is not wrong, Pathfinder._ **

“Yeah,” Scott huffed, rolling his eyes. “Thanks, SAM.”

**_You are welcome._ **

_Oh boy._

“Keep working on the sarcasm,” Scott said. “Did you need something, PeeBee?”

“You seem upset,” the asari said again. “Uptight. Stressed. Oh, don’t give me that look – others have noticed, but they’re too nice to ask you outright.”

“And you’re – what? Not nice?”

“Not really, no,” she said, smiling. “So, what’s up, Mr. Pathfinder?”

He scowled. “Do you have to call me that? Does _everyone_ have to call me that?”

 ** _What would you have people call you? That is your title._** SAM sounded confused.

He sighed. “I have a name. How about you use that?”

“Sure, Mr. Uptight Ryder Guy.” She snickered. “Except you don’t like being bottom, do you?”

“Do you have a point somewhere in all of this, PeeBee?”

“Fine, fine. Sheesh. And I already stated my point: what’s up?”

“That’s it?” he asked, quirking a brow. “Just – what’s up?”

“Well – yeah? I don’t see the point in dancing around the subject, do you?”

He often enjoyed PeeBee’s abrasiveness, her tendency to speak her mind and not sugar-coat things – but right now, he just wanted to be left alone.

He sighed again, heavily. “Nothing is ‘up’. I’m fine.”

“Has anyone told you you’re a terrible liar?”

“Gil, but – no. Nothing’s up. I’m good.”

“Uh huh,” she said skeptically. “If that’s the case then why are you _moping_? You’ve been moping ever since we left Kadara. Ever since we left a _certain someone_.”

He threw her a nasty look. “I am not _moping_ , and it has nothing to do with anyone.”

“Then why so defensive, Ryder?”

“Because you’re accusing me of moping, and I don’t mope,” he said, rolling his eyes. “I might _contemplate_ , but I don’t _mope_. Come on. Think about who you’re talking to, here.”

She smirked. “That’s better.”

“What’s better?” he asked, frowning, confused.

She shrugged, heading back for the doorway. “Just nice to hear you joking, again. See ya, Ryder.”

She left the room, leaving him staring after her, confused.

_I am not moping. I don’t mope. And PeeBee didn’t just say she likes hearing my jokes. Nope._

PeeBee admitting something so… _touchy-feely_ just felt wrong. Not that he minded it – he liked that she might have been opening up to him – but it was just… strange. He thought he had everyone on this ship – and everyone around him – pretty well figured out, but apparently he was wrong.

Reyes was the Charlatan, PeeBee liked his jokes… what else was changing?

_I can’t handle this right now._

Maybe a hot shower and a good night’s sleep would help him forget about Reyes and all the chaos lately.

 _It didn’t_.

 

“So tell me what happened between you and lover-boy,” Vetra said as a greeting as she came into the kitchen. Scott nearly choked on his coffee – it burned all the way down. He sucked in a ragged breath and looked at her, but she had her back to him, digging through the refrigerator for something for herself.

“Nothing happened,” he said, coughing.

_It burns._

**_That would be the coffee, Pathfinder._ **

_Thanks, SAM. I know that. And knock it off with the Pathfinder bullshit, it’s just Scott, or Ryder, okay?_

**_Very well, Scott_**.

_Thank you._

He’d been trying to grill it into SAM’s mind to call him his actual name instead of his new title – the title he didn’t even _ask for_ – but SAM kept slipping back into old habits. Scott couldn’t fault him entirely; he was programmed that way, and while SAM had his own intelligence, he was still also lines of code, at least for his beginning. Some things were hard to change.

“You realize you’re a terrible liar, right?”

Scott looked at the ceiling, sighing. “Why does everyone keep saying that?”

“Because it’s true, and you should probably stop lying. Or get better at it.”

“Yeah, thanks. I’ll get right on that.”

“But I was serious – what happened? You two seemed chummy.”

“Who?” he asked, mostly to buy himself time, because _how did this keep happening to him_ …

_They’re all ganging up on me. Unfair._

**_Well, they are your crew. They only worry._ **

“Don’t play dumb, it doesn’t suit you,” Vetra said, humor evident in her voice. “You know exactly who I mean, but if you need me to spell it out so you stop hiding – then fine, Reyes.”

“Nothing happened between me and Reyes,” he said truthfully, forcing a smile when she turned to face him. Her mandibles flexed once, a scowl evident in her voice.

“Maybe that’s the problem.”

“Excuse me?”

“Well, it’s obvious you like him, and he seemed pretty fond of you – so, maybe you should take care of that. Or something. I don’t know.”

“First of all – are you seriously telling me to have sex with someone? And second, you know he’s a criminal, right?”

“If you had a problem with smugglers, I wouldn’t be here,” she said nonchalantly, waving a hand at him.

He huffed. “Yeah, well – you didn’t challenge someone to a duel and then cheat to win.”

“Is that what you’re worried about?” she asked, sounding surprised. “That’s not a crime, you know – it’s cheating, but it’s not a crime. He didn’t technically break the law with that one.”

“Murder is still murder, and last I checked, it’s pretty illegal.”

“That wasn’t murder – it was gang warfare. Completely different.”

“I really don’t think it is.”

“Now you’re just being difficult,” Vetra told him, annoyed. “Reyes challenged her to a duel, a fight to the death, and you were fine with it. What’s it matter if he cheated? Someone was going to die either way. Does it really matter how?”

“I guess not,” he admitted, looking away. “But it’s more than that.”

“Like what?”

“Why am I even telling you this?”

“I’m easy to talk to.”

“Annoyingly so,” he muttered.

“See, it’s working. So, tell me. What else?”

“We’re just… not compatible.”

“How so? Did you have sex and you just-”

“ _No_.”

“Then how do you know you’re not compatible? Because you both seemed to like each other just fine before this whole Sloane Kelly thing.”

He sighed. “Maybe that’s the problem.”

“How?”

“He lied to me.”

“Yeah.”

“A lot.”

“Yeah.”

“The whole time.”

_He seemed to like me, but the whole time he was lying to me. The whole time we knew each other. For months. He lied to me f, or months._

“Not about everything,” she said. “Normally I don’t appreciate lying, and Reyes does weave a lot of lies, but in the end – he made you happy, you smiled more, and now you’re all grumpy and no fun. He didn’t lie about everything.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Let me ask you something.”

“Alright.”

“Are you more angry that he lied and kept things from you, or that you didn’t see it?”

Scott stayed quiet, mostly because he didn’t really know how to answer.

_Because I did see it. All the clues were there. I saw it._

_I wasn’t surprised._

_But it still hurts, and it shouldn’t._

 

They reached the Nexus soon enough. Addison, as always, wasn’t pleased with him, but he didn’t really care anymore. He wasn’t going to break his back pleasing anyone except himself, or people truly worth it, and she was neither. Tann wasn’t, either. He also was displeased about anything and everything. He wanted more military outposts even though Scott chose science. Oh well. He’d get over it. Or he wouldn’t, but the decision was made, and he didn’t have to go out there and fix entire _planets_ and make the decision himself, so he couldn’t whine about it.

If they were going to thrust him into this position, _untrained_ , they were just going to have to deal with it. Deal with everything.

Addison and Tann seemed especially displeased with his cooperation with the exiles on Kadara; they were thrown out of the Nexus, and the Initiative, for a reason. But they weren’t out there getting shot at every day, trying to fix fucking _planets_ and atmospheres and temperatures, so they got absolutely zero say in the matter.

Besides, not all the exiles were terrible people; some just picked the wrong side in the uprising. The exiles weren’t entirely to blame for the uprising, either; they got so angry for a reason, because of something the Nexus leaders did or didn’t do. It took two to start a war. If they were unhappy enough to cause an uprising – there was a reason.

Not all the exiles were bad. Some just picked the losing side.

And some…

Scott scowled, willing Reyes’ voice out of his head. Honestly. He only knew the guy for a few months; they flirted a lot, kissed once, got drunk together… but that was it. They had little in common beyond their mutual attraction. They weren’t compatible.

He needed to get the smuggler king out of his head.

_Easier said than done._

**_I could help with that, if you wished, Pathfinder. Scott._ **

_Yeah? How?_

**_I could block certain synapses in the brain, keeping your mind focused._ **

Scott hesitated.

He wasn’t sure why, because honestly that was the simplest, easiest solution: to just have SAM literally keep Reyes out of his thoughts. Both the good and the bad.

 _No,_ he finally said. _I can deal on my own._

**_Very well._ **

He made it through the day on the Nexus without blowing anything up – that was a plus, at least. The Tempest got new supplies, and his crew were happy to be off the ship for a while, even if it was just a day or two. Even if it was just for a few hours. PeeBee used to have an apartment here on the Nexus, before she moved everything onto the Tempest.

 _PeeBee_.

He boarded the Tempest, happy to see that most of the crew was, in fact, enjoying their leave for the time being, except for PeeBee. She was in her little airlock room working on Poc, her robot friend. Poc puffed up somewhat when Scott entered the room, and PeeBee spun to face him.

“Ryder! I wasn’t expecting you.”

“Hey,” Scott said somewhat awkwardly, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Hey. Hi. So, you know how we… uh… you know… to relax?”

PeeBee smirked, her eyelids lowering into that flirty flutter. “Oh yes. I know just what you need. Come with me.”

She grabbed his hand and dragged him into escape pod at the end of her room. Scott exhaled loudly and ducked inside with PeeBee. This helped, last time, he told himself. They both felt less stressed. No strings. Absolutely no strings. Just stress relief, a way to wind down and relax without having to worry about anything, even gravity.

The artificial gravity turned off and they were floating. PeeBee giggled as she floated over him, and then nipped at his ear.

_Yes. A distraction. Stress relief._

SAM, thankfully, was quiet.

 

In another life, he and PeeBee could be a pair. He could grow to love her as he had never loved anyone. They could become more. In another life, he could be happy and content with someone he trusted and genuinely had fun with.

In another life.

But this was not another life, and he and PeeBee were just friends. Close friends, with certain benefits, and absolutely no strings. It was better this way. They talked about past flings, both genders, and theorized about what it would be like to live an ideal, happy life with a significant other.

PeeBee had a crush on Jaal, which seemed unreciprocated. At first she just liked his appearance, but as she got to know him, she genuinely liked him. Scott listened to her complain about her lack of progress with him, and in return, she listened as he came clean about what happened down on Kadara. The full, unedited version, the kind he could only speak about after he was suitably relaxed in a zero-gravity chamber.

“That sucks,” she said. “To think you know someone, and it turns out, they’ve been hiding things from you the whole time. But to be fair, he never technically lied to you. He never said ‘I’m not the Charlatan’.”

“A lie by omission is still a lie,” Scott reminded her.

She shrugged, floating away from him briefly. “Well, now you know the truth. Do you see him differently because of it?”

“He’s the leader of the Collective, just like Sloane was the leader of the Outcasts. Either way you look at it, they’re both just gang leaders. Or, _were_ gang leaders.”

“Sloane did kind of deserve it.”

“That’s not the point.”

“This is why you stay out of exile, and gang, politics, Ryder.”

“Yeah, I know. Thanks,” he huffed, rolling his eyes. “You’re so helpful.”

She smirked. “I do try. But seriously, Ryder – what are you really angry about? What’s changed now that you know the truth? You liked him before, and from what you said, he didn’t tell you because he wanted you to get to know him first, instead of any lies you might hear. Considering he was being blamed for murder at the time – I mean, I can’t say I blame him, completely.”

He sighed heavily. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”

“So, kiss and make up.”

“It’s not that simple.”

She sighed. “It never is with you.”


	2. Chapter Two

Reyes Vidal was a man of many tastes – fine wine, grilled food, flexible women and sturdy men. Since coming to Andromeda, he had only a few things on the forefront of his mind: leave the Nexus, rise to power, _be somebody_.

All his life he just wanted to _be somebody_. He wanted to belong. He wanted people to know him, to hear him.

He’d made a name for himself so far, even if it was with that ridiculous code name, _Shena_. He made a name for himself, and he had a steady business going – but he wanted more.

So he sought to take Sloane’s throne from her. She was undeserving of it anyway; she lied and cheated and stole just like everyone else here, but she tried to put herself above everyone simply because she managed to ambush the kett and chase them off. Her enforcers tried to tell everyone there were no kett on Kadara because of Sloane, but that was a lie; the kett were here, just not in Kadara Port.

Many were unhappy under Sloane’s reign, but many still had no other place to go, so they supported her.

Reyes decided to take her throne from her, and set about doing so.

He’d managed to do that now. He had what he wanted.

Except he didn’t.

He never expected he’d run into the human Pathfinder, Scott Ryder. He never anticipated he could have so much _fun_ talking to him, enjoying someone else’s presence… He never expected to catch _feelings_.

At first he wasn’t sure if they _were_ feelings, or just lust since it had been a little while since he’d had sex with anyone. Sure, Ryder was hot, but the looks weren’t the only thing that mattered. That first time they kissed, the stubble around Ryder’s jawline tickled his skin in all the right ways. He liked the way Ryder looked at him; he wasn’t lying when he said that. At first, the lies seemed harmless, but then they became everything, because if Ryder knew the truth – everything would stop. And Reyes didn’t want it to stop.

Inevitably, though, Ryder found out the truth. Of course he did. There was no hiding it forever. He’d hoped to settle matters with Sloane quietly, but of course she dragged the Pathfinder into their fight. When he saw Ryder following Sloane Kelly into the cave… he knew it was over, and the truth would be revealed. He was the Charlatan.

He was the leader of a group of exiles and criminals – and Ryder stopped looking at him.

_“Why didn’t you trust me?”_

Sort of.

He still had that same glint in his eyes – a part of him, no matter how tiny, still liked Reyes. But instead of accepting Reyes’ vague apology, he decided to walk away, and he didn’t look back.

Reyes watched him leave. He wanted to call out to him, make him stop, apologize correctly...

He didn’t.

He was a man of pride, and he did not beg. He would not beg. If Ryder wanted to leave – that was his choice. They’d only known each other for a few months. They’d both get over it.

He watched the Pathfinder leave, and then he got back to work himself. There was a lot to be done, after all. Maybe the work would get Scott Ryder out of his mind.

 _It didn’t_.

 

Exactly a week after his takeover of Kadara Port, when all the disputes had been settled and the Collective was in charge, Reyes started thinking about cohabitation, and outposts. The Nexus could put an outpost here, on Kadara, and the exiles and the Initiative could coexist peacefully. Just like he told Ryder – Sloane wanted war, and he wanted peace. That was why he did what he did. His methods were questionable, but in the end he meant well. Didn’t that count for something?

 _I guess not,_ he thought.

It had only been a week since the Pathfinder left the planet, and he couldn’t get Scott Ryder out of his mind. He’d only known the man for a few short months, but he liked him. They got along fairly well, with snarky retorts here and there, and sly flirting, and he enjoyed kissing the man – but he kept so much from Scott – _Ryder_ – and in the end it changed everything between them.

He wasn’t entirely certain whether Ryder was angry because he lied about being the Charlatan, or because he _was_ the Charlatan. He already knew Reyes was a criminal, a smuggler, so being the Charlatan wasn’t that far of a leap, was it?

_“Why didn’t you trust me?”_

_I do trust you,_ he wanted to say. He trusted so few people. He only trusted his friend, Keema, and even then – he met her through work. It could be argued he met Ryder through work as well, but they didn’t solely discuss work. Ryder never looked at him as just an asset. He trusted the Pathfinder; he _wanted_ to trust him.

He wanted to tell him everything from the start, but then he kept quiet too long and saying anything could only hurt them. In the end, the truth was revealed, and he should have listened to Keema; she told him to tell Ryder right from the start, but he didn’t because he liked the way Ryder looked at him. He liked the way they seemed to have a mutual respect between them.

Now it was over, and a week after the fact, he still couldn’t get the Pathfinder out of his head.

He tried drinking until he forgot everything, but that only made him want Ryder back _more_ , so they could kiss again and touch again and he could make up for ditching him at Sloane’s party and-

He wanted a lot of things, but Scott Ryder was done with him.

_But I’m not done with you._

In one of his more confident moments, he sent Ryder a brief message. For a time, he agonized over how to start it, but in the end went with his gut – open honesty.

_Scott,_

_I feel terribly about how we left things. I’ve fixed Kadara Port up nicely, to complement all the work you’ve done for the planet. Perhaps the Nexus could settle an outpost here._

_~~I miss you~~ _

_~~I’m sorry~~ _

_If you would like to talk, I’ll be in Tartarus. Look me up if you’re in the neighborhood. It could be beneficial for everyone._

_Reyes Vidal_

He sent the message before he lost his nerve, and then exhaled heavily. He’d never been this nervous over someone before. All these mixed feelings should have been his first clue that he was in too deep, but he thought he had it all under control. By the time he realized he was a little too attached to the human Pathfinder, it was entirely too late.

He could still remember the feel of the other man against him as they kissed. Could still remember the way Ryder looked at him playfully, with that seductive little smirk Reyes wanted to kiss from his face. Every time he tried to forget, to move on because clearly they could never work – _he just couldn’t forget_.

He couldn’t get Ryder out of his head.

Keema said it was love. Lovesick.

He was not lovesick. He didn’t _love_. He wasn’t nice enough for all of that.

But he did _care_.

He cared deeply about a lot of things – the fate of Kadara, the fate of his people in the Collective, how he wanted to be noticed, how he wanted to belong and _be somebody_ and-

_“You are someone, to me.”_

Ryder’s voice continued to echo through his head, day and night. How close he’d been to an actual relationship and not a series of flings. How close he’d come to a more serious connection, only to ruin it at the last moment.

Perhaps they were doomed from the start.

Scott Ryder was a Pathfinder, a leader, a beacon of hope for the Initiative. A _good man_.

Reyes Vidal was a smuggler, a criminal, the secret leader of a gang. A _bad man_.

They were not compatible.

_But compatibility never mattered to Reyes._

 

A few of Sloane’s group were rather unhappy at the change in Kadara Port. Reyes took care of them carefully and quietly, from the shadows where he belonged. Keema was the front-woman for the Collective; everyone thought _she_ was the Charlatan, not Reyes. To everyone else, Reyes was just a smuggler trying to survive, affiliated with no real gang, only himself. He liked to keep it that way.

 _More lies,_ said a voice in his head, sounding oddly like Ryder.

 _I am a liar,_ he thought. _It’s who I am._

 _“Reyes is a better man than you think,”_ Ryder once said to Zia, Reyes’ ex and potential assassin. He once stood up for Reyes because he thought he was better than what he was – and he was wrong.

Reyes was not, and had never been, a good man.

_But he wanted to be._

He wanted to be a good man – he wanted to be the man Ryder thought he was.

He wanted…

He wanted a lot of things, and some might call him greedy – after all, he already had Kadara Port, just like he wanted. He was someone, just like he wanted. Even if he was still in the shadows, but he _wanted_ to be in the shadows. He made a name for himself, he had Kadara Port – what more did he need?

_It’s lonely, at the top._

Never had those words been more true.

He might be King of Kadara, but that meant little when he couldn’t get Ryder out of his head.

It’d been three days since he sent his message. Ryder hadn’t replied. A part of him didn’t expect him to, just as much as a part of him _hoped_ he would. Nevertheless, he spent the majority of his time drowning his sorrows in Tartarus. He preferred Kralla’s Song, and Umi the bartender, and it was safer there – but he had grown accustomed to the underground and the slums, and as Ryder once called him, he was indeed a shady bastard. He preferred the shadows, and right now, a very small part of him whispered that maybe he didn’t _deserve_ the luxury of Kadara Port, and the club Kralla’s Song. Whatever his reasons, he stayed in Tartarus for a few days, earning quite a tab.

And then on day four of his self-made pity party, the doors to his private room opened. He looked up to snap at the person – _I said not to disturb me!_ – but found the words lost on his tongue when Scott Ryder’s clear blue-grey eyes landed on him, effectively silencing any complaints he might have had.

“Hi,” Ryder said. “You look like you’re waiting for someone.”

Reyes swallowed, his tongue working again. “That’s my line.”

“Is this seat taken?” Ryder asked, gesturing at the bench area next to Reyes. He shook his head, and the Pathfinder sat down with a heavy sigh. “We need to talk.”

“Yes. About the outpost,” Reyes said, because that was the only reason Ryder could have come – not to mend bridges after he effectively ruined everything like he always did. He was good at that. Ruining things. Ruining chances and opportunities. He’d never been very good with emotions.

“Yeah, about the outpost,” Ryder confirmed with a small incline of his head. “Among… other things.”

Hope surged, but Reyes squashed it down. He’d been on Kadara too long to let a silly thing like _hope_ get to him. “Such as?”

“First, I’m pretty sure you owe me some favors,” Ryder said. “Either that or a lot of money.”

“Oh, right, the tab,” Reyes said, nodding. “Favors. What do you need?”

“Let’s not be hasty,” Ryder said, smirking at him. Reyes’ heart fluttered. He’d dreamed often of that smirk, of kissing it off that smug face, but that was not his honor anymore. In another life… perhaps…

_In another life, I might have been the man Ryder thought me to be._

“Forgive me,” Reyes found himself saying, and he wasn’t sure why he was saying it. _Forgive me for being hasty. Forgive me, but I don’t understand. Forgive me for ruining everything. Just forgive me._

But he was a prideful man, and he wouldn’t beg.

Ryder’s eyes softened. “I have a few questions, and I need honest answers.”

“Well, I do owe you,” Reyes sighed. “Very well. Ask.”

“You said you didn’t lie about everything,” Ryder said slowly, watching him carefully. Reyes felt trapped by that gaze, his clear eyes penetrating. “You said I know you. Do I?”

“Yes,” Reyes said quietly, but not out of reluctance to say the word, but because at that very moment the hope was crushing his lungs and it was all the breath he had. He carefully pushed that hope back down; Ryder was doing this for the outpost, nothing more.

“Explain.”

“Everything I said about me was completely true,” Reyes told him. “I came to Andromeda to be someone. I like 600 year old alcohol. My codename, Shena, _does_ mean ‘mouth’. When I kissed you, I meant it. I meant everything. The only thing I ever kept from you was the fact I was the Charlatan.”

He honestly didn’t mean to say all of that – but having Ryder so close again, after so long, he couldn’t quite help himself. The words just came spilling out, and he knew he was completely and entirely _fucked_.

He cared about Scott Ryder, and caring about someone on Kadara was dangerous. Hope was a fickle, trivial thing, easily broken.

“And… Sloane?” Scott asked finally, after a brief pause.

“What about her?”

“You beat up her bodyguard to send her a message,” Ryder said, frowning. “The guy was only doing his job.”

“I didn’t do that,” Reyes said. “I told my contact to send her a message, and Kaetus intercepted. When I learned how he sent the message, I wasn’t happy, but I couldn’t change it.”

“You challenged Sloane to a duel, and then cheated.”

“Sloane would have done the same, had she chosen the meeting area,” Reyes replied. “Our politics is different. We don’t have… all those rules.”

“You still cheated.”

“I did,” Reyes said. “But I’d tried the fair way so many times – and got nowhere. Sloane wanted war, and we didn’t have the population for that. I had to do something.”

Ryder sighed, heavily, and looked away. “I want to believe you.”

“It is true,” Reyes said. “Ask your AI – he will tell you I am not lying.”

Ryder was quiet for a moment, probably listening to the AI in his head, before he nodded, glancing at Reyes again. “Alright. I believe you. I guess I wouldn’t have liked it any better if Sloane had killed you.”

“Yes, well – I would not have liked that, either.”

Ryder watched him for a brief moment. He looked good – nearly two weeks away from Kadara served him well. He’d appeared stressed the last time he was here, the last time Reyes saw him, but now his eyes were clear, and the fatigue which had been weighing on his shoulders seemed to have disappeared.

He looked good, and to have him watching Reyes so closely left shivers inching down his spine, though he struggled to ignore it.

“I want to give this another shot,” Ryder finally said. “Despite my better judgment.”

“Are you calling me in poor taste?” Reyes couldn’t help but joke because – _fuck_ – was he getting a second chance? Did second chances really happen in Andromeda? Clearly they did for the Initiative – but on Kadara?

“You are a shady bastard,” Ryder confirmed, smirking at him. And then he leaned closer, and their mouths were only inches apart. “So, what do you say?”

“Yes,” Reyes breathed, and leaned in for the kiss, only to have Ryder lean back.

“A few ground rules, before we try anything.”

“Of course.”

“No more secrets.”

“No more secrets, I promise,” Reyes said.

Ryder frowned. “Everyone has their secrets, and your line of work is secretive… you can keep your secrets. Just… don’t lie to me anymore. Especially about the big stuff.”

_He is so understanding…_

“Thank you,” Reyes said sincerely, and leaned forward for that kiss again. This time, Ryder didn’t pull away.

When their lips met, the hope surged through him once more, and this time, he didn’t shove it back down.

Maybe there was hope on Kadara after all.

 

“So what changed your mind?” Reyes asked later that night, as they lay in Scott’s quarters aboard the Tempest.

“Nothing,” Scott said.

“What?”

“I haven’t changed my mind. You’re still a shady bastard, and deep down we’re probably not compatible.”

Reyes pushed himself up enough, on his elbow, to look down at Ryder with a frown.

“But,” Ryder continued, smirking at him, “I chose to believe you did the wrong things for the right reasons, and isn’t that all anyone can ask for?”

Reyes laughed once, then pressed his mouth to Scott’s again.

“Plus,” Scott said around the smuggler’s mouth, “I missed you.”

Reyes groaned, and then found himself flipped onto his back as Scott hovered over him. “I missed you as well,” he admitted.

“Good – I would hate for this to be one-sided,” Scott whispered in his ear, before he nipped at the lobe, sending chills down Reyes’ spine.

“Definitely not one-sided,” Reyes murmured as a blissful haze started to overtake his mind. “Unless you want me to play hard to get.”

“I thought that was my job?” Another nip at his ear, more chills in all the best possible ways. “I could leave, if you want to chase me.”

Reyes wrapped his legs around Scott and flipped them, so that the Pathfinder was flat on the bed and Reyes sat atop him. “I’ve caught you.”

Scott chuckled. “So you have – now what happens?”

“Now I have my wicked way with you.”

“Mm – sounds wicked.”

“You have no idea, but you will.”

He kissed a trail up Scott’s bare chest, then paused at his mouth, pecking him once, twice, on the lips before he whispered a quick, “you’re mine now” and nipped lightly at the pliable lips.

Scott laughed – warm, quiet, breathy, a sound Reyes rather enjoyed. “I’m yours.”

Hearing him say that left his erection throbbing even more, demanding some attention. He moaned as Scott lifted up enough to grind together, and press their mouths together for another desperate kiss.

As it turned out, they were more compatible than they thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's that. Keep in mind I wrote the majority of this before reaching that point in the game, so take it with a grain of salt. Comments are love <3 thanks for reading.


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